Customer Reviews

Animation from Pencils to Pixels: Classical Techniques for the Digital Animator

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The long-awaited sequel to Tony White's ANIMATOR'S WORKBOOK is worth the wait.
ANIMATION FROM PENCILS TO PIXELS is unique among animation books since artwork from White's short film ENDANGERED SPECIES is used to illustrate most of the sections of the book, though some student work is also included. Some material from THE ANIMATOR'S WORKBOOK is repeated, mainly in the sections that deal with action analysis. White has included valuable chapters on Flash and vector-based 2D animation. While drawing is clearly his first love there are also chapters on CGI '3D' animation written from the perspective of a professional animator.
The massive book (over 500 pages long) is readable and easy to navigate. Images are large and well-placed (this has been a notable failing in many animation how-to books.)
It's quite ambitious to incorporate preproduction, production, and post in two media into one volume. If you want a good, well written overview of animation production in the 21st century, this is the book to get.
I would like to see ENDANGERED SPECIES on a full DVD copy; the PDF format in the original edition is a bit hard to play on this computer.

Students of animation! This book is essential for your home or studio shelf. Animation From Pencils to Pixels is a comprehensive overview of animation production for the digital animator. As a text book it covers the lot - the mechanics of animation, funding your projects, the traditional aspects (yes, they're still important), new tools and methods, the business and copyright of your work, getting the concept and where to go with it. It is a classy tome well laid out and encourages you to read on easily. Other books on animation go into more depth concerning the specifics in animation but for an overall appreciation of the art and industry you can't go past this one. It is a good companion book to The Animator's Survival Kit (can I mention that?) which has more depth on the nitty-gritties of animated movement. My only criticism is the "I, I, I...." stance of the author. But with the profile and experience that Tony has there is a lot here to learn from, while in the early years of discovering the art of animating.

I have studied animation for the last several years. I am a Flash designer specializing in E-learning in the Seattle market. I am not just a casual reader of this topic.

Why I like this book. When you go to school for animation you have a lot of stuff thrown at you and no matter how good your notes are you can not remember it all. You need to refresh your skills. This book was not only good at that but also much more. It is a fun read, an interesting read.

This book covers the complete process from picking up the pencil to marketing/distribution. Tony knows his stuff, he should he has been a professional animator for many years and you have probably seen his works. If you have seen the Pink Panther Strikes Again ("does your dog bite?") you have, he did all the animation for the film.

Traditional animation is an art form and it seems like it is finally getting some of the respect it deserves. 3D is the rage these days, Pixel does an excellent job and nobody does it better, unfortunately there are more bad 3D feature films than good. Even Disney is hiring back some traditional animators and creating some old school, that's cool.

If you want to learn animation pick up this book and The Illusion of Life and you will learn so very much. But the learning process also requires doing. Like the saying goes, "A dream and a number 2 pencil will take you anywhere".

Keith Johnson
Manager of the Seattle Flash User Group
Flash Animator/ E-Learning Specialist

The ultimate book for digital 2d animators, I cant imagine having a better animation related book.

Even though this book is mainly aimed at animators, it covers the entire production process for an animated film. The book covers writing, storyboarding, animatics, soundtrack recording, animation, and even 3d modeling. I was very impressed by the detail in the book, for instance one chapter (the rules of filmmaking) has 141 pages devoted to camera angles, and traditional film editing exclusively. The book is especially of interest to independent animators who want to make an animated film from start to finish with the use of the computer. However pretty much anyone with an interest in animation would like this book.

Animation from Pencils to Pixels is by far my favorite animation book.

I'm a professional 3D artist in Chile, i bought this book thinking that it's was going to be a big help to improve my working piplines but i think is better for students of 3D animation because is to general, but that doesnt mean that is a bad book, i think that it will help in some areas but in animation in general i recomend animation survival kit of Richard Williams.

I encourage anyone interested in animation to buy this book. It's an all-in-one handbook which contains all process of creating an animated movie from an idea to it's full completion. It is primarily based on traditional animation, since author comes from that background, but all methods apply to CGI (there is even a special chapter dedicated to 3D animation). Book also talks about business side of the industry, copyrights, working with studio, creating portfolio's, publishing and sharing your work, working for an employer, etc.

It's really an "All-in-one" handbook for every animator, because it contains literally everything you should know about this art, including both artistic and business side of it. Book follows the creation of movie "Endangered species", which was made parallel as the book was written. Movie is basically about the history of animation, which is shown as a baby who grows, and includes many of historic animated films (from silent beginnings, golden era to modern CGI age). I recommend everyone to watch the movie, and to buy this book, whether you 're a beginner or a professional. I am sure it won't be a bad decision :)

As a beginner 2d animator (with past experience in 3d), I've been searching for a book that provides soup-to-nuts, clear information regarding every stage of the animation process. Having leafed through books at Barnes and Noble, I found that most books would cover a little something (like discussing squash and stretch technique in classical animation), but nothing thorough enough to give me the comprehensive foundation that I need. While I haven't finished this yet, I've gone through the chapters...and this book has everything (including discussion of film shots, lenses, framing, etc.) *This* was money well spent.

This book has really helped me and I have learned a lot from this book. I would recommend this book.

This book has a little bit of everything where animation is concerned. It has a lot of solid advice, though it can get wordy at times. This book touches on many concepts that other books go into with greater depth. You sort of follow the author through the production of his pet animated product, and the author teaches the principles of animation and animation production as we follow along, though the author himself admits many of the concepts he teaches on aren't even adhered to in his own production. If you are interested in animation and want to take a nosedive into this world, give this book a whirl. If you are truly seeking in-depth animation techniques, look elsewhere.

Wonderful! A current and deep book! A book that shows the whole technique of the contemporary animation. Written by one of the great names of the animation. It is a wonderful reference for everybody that love animation. Pretty!